[Words and language used by patients when describing consultation with general practitioners]

Increased knowledge of how patients express their experiences may help physicians to capture their patients' perceptions and agenda. The aim of the present study was to examine words and language used by patients when describing specific primary care consultation experiences. Six focus group sessions with a total of 31 patients were conducted shortly after a general practice consultation. All group sessions were audiotaped and analysed by qualitative ethnographic methodology. Seven distinct grammatical and verbal characteristics were found: The consultations were recited in the first person with little recollection of the doctors' talk or actions. Subjectivity was constantly underlined by the verbs "feel" or "think". When expressing negative emotions, the personal pronoun constantly was changed from the personal singular to the impersonal or plural form. Language tended to be evasive in connection with possible criticism. Negative emotions were diminished by the use of limiting expressions and modest wording. Non-committal expressions, with a wide range of possible meanings, were frequent, and were possible to decipher only by close attention to non-verbal cues. We conclude that doctors may capture more of their patients' hidden emotional messages in the consultation by increased awareness of specific verbal characteristics and non-verbal cues.